DAYTONA BEACH — Fires that raged across Volusia County woodlands two weeks ago turned Mary Keller's Daytona Beach home into a refuge.

Keller, 57, came to the rescue of some of the most helpless victims of the flames that destroyed more than 38,000 acres in the county in three days.

Keller is taking care of various birds that were injured from the heat or the smoke. The fowl are just some of the animals Keller nurses at her home at the corner of Deneece Terrace and Bobbie Lee Drive.

For nearly 20 years, Keller has aided birds and other small animals that have been injured or separated from their nests. When the animals recover, Keller lets them go.

She never studied veterinary medicine and doesn't profess to have the technical knowledge of animal doctors. But Keller has years of experience patching up and nursing small wild animals, and tending to them is a full-time vocation for her.

Blue jays squawked and pigeons scuttled across a metal awning overhead as Keller watched a brown pelican that was injured two weeks ago when it flew into a pole in the Tomoka Wildlife Management Area. The area was blanketed with smoke at the time and visibility was low. Keller bandaged the injured wing and said the bird would be turned loose on the Halifax River when it regains its strength.

Keller also is treating two owls, four young red shoulder baby hawks and six rabbits injured in the fires in Volusia and Flagler counties. One of the hawks was found by a bulldozer operator at one of the lines around the fire south of State Road 40 near the Flagler County line.

The rabbits and one of the owls had suffered smoke damage from being too close to the fire, Keller said.

She also has cages of other animals, including a pelican injured by fish hooks, a tern with an injured eye, owls, a cage of blue jays and sparrows and a cat.

Keller has rescued seagulls that have been struck by cars, birds that have been poisoned by insecticide and pelicans whose wings have been sliced by fishing lines extending from condominiums into the water.

Those injuries, caused by humans, anger Keller because she says they are unnecessary.

Small wild animals, particularly birds, are referred to Keller through fish and wildlife officers, the Halifax Humane Society, police departments and veterinarians. She only takes care of wild animals, never pets, which have owners to care for them and should be taken to veterinarians, Keller said.

Keller said she wouldn't take money for her work. ''Then I would have to have paper work. And paper work would kill me.''

Her compensation is the satisfaction she gets from helping helpless creatures. ''Religiously, I believe we were put on this earth to try to do something. I work with my birds and have become quite good at it.''

She started taking care of small animals nearly two decades ago when someone brought her a seagull with a broken wing. Keller found out how difficult it was to find someone who could help the gull, and the bird died. So she decided to take on the mission herself, reading books and experimenting.

Her success rate increased, and so did her reputation. This year, Keller said she has treated 374 birds.

Keller said she would like to train some people who could help her, so she could concentrate on handling only birds of prey.